Why saving and frugality is not enough, by Dr Oyedeji

I am very big on frugality primarily because everything around us encourages us to spend like sailors. But I also understand that it’s almost impossible to “frugal” your way to financial independence. You must make more money by monetizing a rare, complex or unique skills.

Rare skill sets. Most people will NEVER make enough money to retire with make-up artistry, waitressing, cleaning/janitorial work, most art-based disciplines, music etc. In contrast, most software developers will make a very good living because their skill set is rare.

Rare skill sets. The adults lied when they said “follow your passion and you’ll be ok.” What they really meant was, “follow your passion on the side while building a career that can pay your bills.” Your bills won’t wait for your passion to click.

Rare skill sets. Art can also be a rare skill set. An exceptionally good musician also has a rare skill set. But the industry requires a combination of exceptional skill plus a good dose of luck. What if you’re the unlucky one?

Technical and business skills are often rare. Expertise at either of the two competencies will make you more marketable to employers and provide a platform to build your own business. Young people, take the time to develop a technical skill or business dev ability.

Complex skill sets. People run away from complex problems. Find the most complex problem in your purview; solve it; and customers will beat a path to your door. And you will have little to no competition in monetizing your solution. People run from complexity; run towards it

Unique skill sets: I know someone who studied computer science but is a horrible coder. Her unique skill set is the ability to bring better coders together to create amazing products. Your unique skill set doesn’t have to be technical: it just has to respond to a market need.

Summary: It’s literally impossible to “frugal” your way to financial independence if your income is extremely low. You must develop and monetize some rare, complex, or unique skill to increase your income before triggering the power of frugality to keep most of what you make.